1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the coupling of a computer program and/or of data to a reference system.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The implementation of the computer program and/or the fact of accessing the data being carried out by executing software, the invention can therefore also be seen as pertaining to the reserving of the execution of said software for a reference system.
Specifically, rights are generally attached to computer programs and to data, in particular so as to protect their publishers. One may for example think of computer programs aimed at certain applications (office automation, games, software packages, etc.) or of data of audio, video or multimedia type (music, films, etc.).
A user having legitimately acquired a computer program and/or data normally obtains the right to use them for personal purposes, on a reference system that he uses.
On the other hand, it may be desirable that a user furnished with a system other than the reference system of the legitimate user and having acquired a computer program and/or data in an illegitimate manner, for example on a pirate network where they have been distributed, not be able to avail himself thereof in an unrestricted manner.
For this purpose, it is known to couple (or anchor) a computer program and/or data to a reference system, in such a way that the latter cannot be utilized on another system potentially belonging to an illegitimate user.
The task of an attacker wanting to avail himself of this computer program and/or these data is thus rendered more complex, since the attacker must firstly understand and break the scheme for coupling to the reference system.
According to an existing procedure, the coupling is carried out by taking and storing several characteristic parameters of the reference system. These characteristic parameters pertain for example to the configuration of the system.
Before the execution, on a current system, of the software allowing implementation of the computer program and/or access to the data, it is verified whether the characteristic parameters of the current system are identical to those of the reference system.
If they are, it is deduced therefrom that the current system is indeed the legitimate reference system for which the execution of the software is reserved, and the software can then be executed normally.
In the converse case, it is concluded therefrom that the current system differs from the reference system and is therefore illegitimate. The software is then not executed, thus preventing implementation of the computer program and/or access to the data.
This procedure has however the drawback of being quite inflexible, since it effects a permanent coupling to the reference system. If one of the characteristic parameters of the reference system is modified, for example as a consequence of a change of configuration of this system, the software can no longer be executed on the reference system itself, thus preventing its user from implementing the computer program and/or accessing the data that he nevertheless has acquired legitimately.
Another type of coupling is therefore desirable.